Car-truck



(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. L. WARPIELD.

OAR TRUCK.

No. 519,824. Patented May 15,1894.

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(No Model.) 3 Shets--Sheet s;

' L. WARFIELD. I

GAR TRUCK. No. 519,824. Patented May 15, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS WARFIELD, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CAR-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,824, dated May 15,1894.

Application filed August 7, 1893. flerial No. 482,601- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs WARFIELD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Trucks, which arefully set forth in the following specification, refer- I once being hadto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a plan viewof a street car truck embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevationof the same with the body applied thereto, though partly broken away,and also one of the axle boxes being in section; Fig. 3, an endelevation of the same with the body in section on the line 3. 3 of Fig.2; Fig. 4:, a side elevation of a portion of the car bottom, .and theequalizing supports thereof detached from the other parts; Fig. 5, averti cal section taken on the line 5. 5 of Fig. 2, looking in thedirection of the arrow; Fig. 6, a detail plan section taken on the line6. 6 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 7, a detail end elevation showing the endattachment of the equalizing devices.

In the drawings Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are upon one scale, while the remainingfigures are upon another and enlarged scale.

My invention relates to that part of a completed car which is generallyknown as a truck and which supports the car body or platform, and alsothe motor in case the structure is a locomotive car.

The invention is especially designed for street railway cars and has forits object to connect the wheels and axles together, to furnish supportwhich carries the springs on which the car body or platform rests, andto provide means for preventing the teetering movement or vertical endvibration of the body caused by undulations in the track, especiallywhen running at high speed.

I will now describe in detail the construction and operation of a carcontaining my invention embodied in one practical way, and will thendesignate in claims the particular improvements which I believe to benew and wish to secure by Letters Patent.

In the drawings A represents the truck frame of a car of any ordinaryconstruction. This frame has side bars, a, and end bars, a,

as usual, but they are not connected directly together. Straight bearingplates, B, are provided, the inner end of each being joined to one endof one of the side bars, a, as seen in Fig. 2, while the outer endsthereof are connected to the respective ends of the cross bars, a, andthus joined, these parts constitute together a rigid frame. Thesebearing plates or noses, as I call them, are of peculiar construction.They consistof twolongside pieces or cheeks, b, separated from eachother and joined by an angular web, I), at the front end, a verticalweb, b just back of the former, a vertical web, b extending part wayacross the plates, and still farther back an angular or channel web, I),near the center of the bearing, which is widened at this portion, andtwo horizontal Webs, b arranged one above the other and running backfrom this channel web to the inner end of the plate. The webs, b, at theouter ends provide seats for the end bars, a, and the horizontal webs,12 at the inner ends provide socket receptacles for the side bars, asseen in Fig. 2, while the central channel web, 11 receives the axleboxes, 0, of the axles, c, on which the truck wheels, 0,, are fixed,these channel webs being constructed to provide an open space at thebottom or lower edge of the plates to permit the said boxes to be set upin place and secured in any suitable way; as seen in Fig. 2, they areheld in place by plates, 0 set in underneath them.

The car body, D, is of any ordinary construction, and is mounted uponthe truck frame by means of springs, E, which, in the drawings, areshown as half elliptic springs, and are arranged in pairs at each end ofthe car, being connected thereto by means of brackets, d, d, attached toand depending from the bottom of the car, there being four brackets ateach end of the car body, arranged one pair on each side thereof, theforward ones being marked d, and those in the rear 61'. These bracketshave projections, d extending downward and bending inward toward eachother in the separated pairs, as seen in Fig. 2, and at theirextremities are provided with recesses or transverse notches, (1 on theunder side, which provide for the connection of the supporting springs,E,

thereto by means of links, 6, at each end of said springs, which areadapted to hook into the said recesses, as seen in said Figs. 2 and 4.From the description given above, it will be evident that the sidepieces or cheeks, b, of the bearing plates extend up above the axleboxes and provide a free space or channel extending lengthwise betweenthem. The supporting springs are set in these spaces to between thecheek pieces and rest upon the vertical cross-webs, b the upper edges ofwhich are provided with seat recesses, b adapted to receive the centralbearing block or strap, 6, of the said springs, E. This ar- 5 rangementis shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, andit will be seen that thesprings are provided with a firm support near the truck axles and alsowith side protection in the upward extensions of the cheek pieces, I). Iwill now describe a special mechanism which serves as a furtherconnection between the car body and truck frame, and also prevents thesee-saw or teetering movement so objectionable in street cars. AT-crank, F,

. is pivotally mounted in each of the bearing plates, B. The pivot isabout at the junction of the long arm,f, with the T-head,f, of thecrank, and is effected by means of a pivot pin, f projecting at one sideof the crank and c fitting a tubular bearing, 6 provided for it in thewebs, b which, for strength, are cruciform, as seen in Fig. 2. Thistubular bearing is made sufficiently large to accommodate a bushing, ffor the pivot pin, f The cranks 3 5 are arranged on the inside of thebearing plates and with the long arm substantially horizontal,when, ofcourse, the T-heads will be practically vertical, and thelong armsproject outward at each end of the car. The extremio ties of these longarms of the cranks are connected respectively by links, G, to therespective forward brackets, 01. These links are composed of two parts;the upper member, g, is pivoted to its bracket, while the lower mem- 5her, 9', is in like manner connected to the extremity of the long arm ofone of the cranks,

as seen in Fig. 2. The upper member of the link is provided at itsextremity with a cylinder cup, 9 and the lower member with a pistondisk, 9 adapted to fit the said cup; and 7 space is provided for thereception of an clas tic bufier, 9 of rubber, or a metal spring, betweenthe cup and disk, as seen in Fig. 4, and the cup is closed by asuitablecover, 9 The 5 5 T-heads of the cranks on each side of the carare connected together in pairs by rods, II and H. These connecting rodsare not arranged parallel to each other, however, but cross each otherand are connected to ends of the T- heads of the cranks diagonallyopposite to each other, as seen in- Fig. 2, in which the rod, H, isshown connected by a pivot, h to the upper end of the T-head on thecrank at the right end of the car, while at its opposite end it isconnected by a pivot, h, to the lower end of the T-head of the crank atthat end of the car. The rod, H, is connected up in the opposite manner,being jointed at the right by a pivot, W. to the lower end of the crankhead at this end of the car, and by a pivot, 71. to the upper end of thecrank head at the opposite end or left of the car, as shown in said Fig.2.

The car is rigged with any suitable form of brake mechanism, but as thisconstitutes no part of my present invention, I have not shown thebraking devices in the drawings. desirable mechanism for this purposemay be used.

The action of the mechanism to prevent the teetering movement of the carwill be readily perceived from the description above and theconstruction shown in the drawings. Obviously if an attempt is made todepress or tip down one end of the car'body the connect on of theopposite end of the body therewith through the cranks and cross-connectin g rods will operate to depress the other end of the body also,and vice versa. The tendency to a see-saw movement of the body as thewheels pass over undulations in the track is, therefore, counteracted atonce, and so this disagreeable movement, so common in street cars ofordinary construction is practically obviated. At the same time, it isobvious that this mechanism does not interfere with the functions of thesupporting springs. If, instead of an end depression, the entire body bedepressed, the supporting springselongate naturally, and the cranks withthe1 rconnecting rods adjust themselves accordingly, without moreresistance than the simple friction of their journaled supports. Asalready suggested, the bearing plates provide not only for the seating,but also to some extent the protection of the supporting springs. Itwill be noticed further that these plates also provide for strongsupporting connections with the side bars and end bars of the frame, andalso a suitable bearing for the pivots of the crank, which, of course,receive at times a severe strain, and so require a strong support. Thebufiers in the link connections between the cranks and the car bodyserve to take up, to some extent, sudden shocks which may occur in thepractical operation of cars. The special bearing plates are notindispensable, but the frame may be formed in other ways.

I am aware that attempts have been made to prevent the teeteringmovement of cars with varying success, but, so far as- I know, none haveresulted in anything more than a modification of the teetering motionwithout absolute prevention. In my system I secure a positive actionsimultaneously at both ends of the car and in the same direction, sothat if the mechanism is in operative conditlon no teetering movementwhatever is possible; I believe I am the first to secure such an actionand result.

In details of construction there may be changes without departing fromthe charac- ICC.

ing springs, two long rods extending from end to end of the car andcrossing each other diagonally between the truck-wheels,and means forconnecting the opposite ends of both rods directly to the respectiveends of the car body,

-whereby a vertical movement of one end of the car body will produce amovement in the said direction of the opposite end thereof,substantially as described.

2. In a railway car, a rigid truck frame, in combination with a carbody, D, mounted thereon by springs, the T-cranks, F, pivotally mountedin the truck frame, connecting rods, HH, pivoted respectively todiagonally opposite ends of the crank heads on each side of the car, andconnections between the long arms of the cranks and the car body,substantially as described.

3. In a railway car, a rigid truck-frame, in combination with theT-cranks, F, pivotally mounted therein, the crossed connecting rods,H--I-I, uniting said cranks on the same side of the car, a body, D,mounted on the truck frame by supporting springs, and yielding links, G,connecting the long arms of the T- cranks to the body, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a railway car, the bearing plates, B, consisting of side pieces orchecks, 1), suitably connected together and provided with a verticalweb, b in combination with the body, D, and supporting springs, E,arranged between the cheeks of the bearing plate and seated on the upperedge of the web, 6 substantially as described.

5. In a railway car, the bearing plates, B, consisting of side pieces orchecks, 1), united by suitable cross-webs, in combination with the sideand end bars of the truck frame rig- LOUIS WARFIELD.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. EDWARDS, H. M. FIELD.

